ghoulnextdoor

You can see Forest Rogers's "The Beautiful Crustacean" in the Impossible Monsters chapter of The Art of Fantasy: A Visual Sourcebook of All That is Unreal, on sale everywhere on September 12th, and available for preorder now.

Have you preordered your copy of The Art of Fantasy, or do you have plans to do so sometime before August 1, 2023? YAY! That’s great. So listen up:

The first 100 entrants to squiggle their order deets into these little forms on the Quarto site will receive a signed bookplate & some art goodies, including a sticker, a bookmark, and a signed (by me!) book plate! I don’t know that the above image is exactly what these things will look like, but the above is probably a close enough approximation.

Let’s peek a little closer! This is the painting The Faun and the Fairies by Daniel Maclise (c. 1834.)  Lit by the shimmering glow of a bright butter-yellow moon, encircled by the faint luminescence of a rainbow, and observed by no one but a dazed and dumbfounded midnight owl, this amorous extravagance by Daniel Maclise (1806–70) depicts nocturnal fairy revelries presided over by the melodious musical stylings of a syrinx-playing satyr and is thought to be one of Maclise’s most magical paintings. Fairy paintings were an avid fascination for the Victorians, offering escape from the changes of industrial society and an indulgence for their preoccupation with the romance of the paranormal and supernatural.

Pre-order your copy of  The Art of  Fantasy by August 1 from any retailer and be one of the first 100 readers to receive bonus goodies! Details here.

Birthday, Dorothea Tanning, 1942

The Art of Fantasy: A visual sourcebook of all that is unreal has gone to the printer! I *think* it's safe to begin sharing a few small peeks?

What was your first brush with the fantastical? For me, and undoubtedly for many, it was a naughty little rabbit in a blue jacket stealing Mr. McGregor’s veggies. For others, it may have been a maddening and enigmatic cat teasing a girl lost in Wonderland and who disappeared, leaving only a grin. Or, for an unfortunate few, it may have been lions, tigers, bears, and OMFG, ARE THOSE FLYING MONKEYS? A terrifying squadron of soaring simians swooping down from the sky to snatch up unsuspecting little dogs and haunting nightmares for many years to come!

Excuses, Schmexcuses, Femke Hiemstra, 2022

Shining Apples, Carisa Swenson, 2015

Though our grown-up appetites for fantasy creatures may have evolved beyond those of adorably floppy-eared childhood friends and expanded to include all manner of beasts with wings and horns, tails, and scales, we can’t deny that friendly or scary, naughty or nice, these creatures sparked our imaginations, populated our dreams and built the foundation for future stories and adventures. These small creatures were the gateway – or the guardians at the gate – to the magical critters and beasties that populate the fantasy media we consume as adults.

Today I am sharing a few of my favorite spreads from the Creatures Great and Small chapter of my forthcoming book. In these pages, you will find some old favorites, some older works that you may not have seen before, and loads of fantastical art from brilliant contemporary artists, too!

Straight on Till Morning, Maggie Vandewalle, 2018

Scowl, Annie Stegg Gerard, 2020

The marvelous menagerie seen in this gallery today includes work from Maggie Vandewalle, Annie Stegg Gerard, Femke Hiemstra, Carisa Swenson, Brett Manning--and of course, Dorothea Tanning (and I am not the layout designer, but I love that they put artists with rhyming last names in the same spread, how fun!)

Faerie Music, Brett Manning, 2021

Thank you to these wonderful artists for permitting me to include their magical creatures in my little art book, and I do hope that -if you are not already familiar with them--you will peruse their accounts and websites and come to adore their creations as much as I do!

And I cannot wait to share more such fantastical art and artists in the upcoming days! In the meantime, you can pre-order The Art of Fantasy wherever books are sold, and I hope that you do! As you hear all the time from every author friend, preorders are incredibly helpful & so on and so forth.

So kindly do so, or perhaps consider sharing this post or tagging a like-minded friend with a penchant for art, fantasy, and all things marvelous and magical. Thank you!

...and then there were three! I am pleased to officially announce that my forthcoming book, The Art of Fantasy: A Visual Sourcebook Of All That Is Unreal will be the third in my "Art in the Margins" trilogy and is available for preorder now!

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0711279950/creativepubco-20

B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-art-of-fantasy-s-elizabeth/1142989443?ean=9780711279957

Books-a-Million https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780711279957

Bookshop https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-art-of-fantasy-a-visual-sourcebook-of-all-that-is-unreal-s-elizabeth/19727917?ean=9780711279957